New Apple TV 4K turns four HomePods into an all-surround home theater setup

ⓘ MacRumors

Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV 4K can connect to up to four HomePod mini 2 or second-generation HomePod speakers, up from two on earlier models. Alongside a Surround Sound mode, it offers Whole Room Audio, which the left and right channels to diagonal speaker pairs so stereo stays balanced anywhere in a room.

Apple's new fourth-generation Apple TV 4K includes a listening mode called Whole Room Audio that spreads sound evenly across four HomePod speakers, a setting the company is pitching for parties and game-day gatherings. The $299 streaming box goes on sale on November 13, and pre-orders are already open.

The mode, which had been rumored under the name Party Mode, is separate from the box's new four-speaker Surround Sound option. Apple says Whole Room Audio keeps music and sports commentary clear "no matter where you are in the room." Earlier Apple TV 4K models can connect to only two HomePods, which play as a stereo pair.

Details of how the mode works come from code in tvOS 27.2 examined by a user identified as pdfu on X. According to those findings, Whole Room Audio and Surround Sound appear as two Speaker Mode choices in the audio settings once four HomePods are connected.

Whole Room Audio plays stereo through both pairs but splits the channels diagonally, so the front-left and rear-right speakers carry the left channel while the front-right and rear-left speakers carry the right. The arrangement is designed to keep stereo balanced wherever a listener stands or faces, and the mode has no adjustable audio settings.

Surround Sound, according to the same code, includes a Spatialize Stereo option that is switched on by default for video and music. Turning it off sends ordinary stereo to the front speakers and leaves the rear pair without a mix for stereo content. A Surround Level control adjusts the rear output between -8 dB and +8 dB in 0.5 dB steps, starting at 0 dB.

Apple says the speakers in a four-HomePod setup detect their positions in the room and adjust volume and timing automatically. The system works with the HomePod mini 2 and the second-generation HomePod. Each pair must use matching models, so a setup can combine two full-size HomePods at the front with two HomePod mini 2 units at the rear.

The HomePod mini 2 launches on October 30, two weeks ahead of the Apple TV. It runs on Apple's S10 chip and adds a Sound Glow top that lights up in colors drawn from the album artwork of the track playing.

The Apple TV 4K itself moves to the A19 chip, which Apple says delivers up to 50% more CPU performance and twice the graphics performance of the previous model, along with a dedicated AV1 decoder. It adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and three far-field microphones that let owners speak to Siri without pressing the remote. The box comes in a single 128GB configuration with a gigabit Ethernet port.

Siri AI on the Apple TV requires tvOS 27.2, which TidBITS expects around the November 13 launch, and is available in English in markets including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, and South Africa. The redesigned Siri Remote supports Find My with Precision Finding and is sold separately for older models at $59.